Tag: london

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Bao Buns at Paddington

Paddington Station

Having arrived at Paddington, I headed to Market Halls for lunch. This is a new place in the Paddington Square development. There are various places now to find somewhere to eat. Market Halls at Paddington is one of four halls across London, but this was my first visit to any of them. They consist of a range of street food stalls with common tables. A great place to go and eat if no one know what they want, or people want different things. Lots of choice including bao buns, tacos, curry, and burgers. On a previous visit when I was there, I went to From The Ashes Parrilla, which is an Argentinian grill place. I had the grilled picanha steak with fries.

This time I went to Bao and had two bao buns. I placed my order, took at seat and waited for the buzzer to go off. It wasn’t long

I had the Beef BAO, beef short rib, gherkin, and Sichuan mayo.

The beef was rich and deeply flavoured, and the gherkin and mayo added a nice contrast. The bao bun was soft and fluffy.

My second was the Fried Chicken BAO, soy milk marinated chicken, golden kimchi, coriander, hot sauce, and Sichuan mayo.

The bao bun was different, halved and toasted. The fried chicken was moist and tender with a nice crispy coating. I liked the golden kimchi.

These weren’t the best bao buns I have had, but they were tasty and I thought reasonable for £9 for the pair of them.

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Picanha Steak + Fries

Paddington Station

Having arrived at Paddington Station, I headed to Market Halls for lunch. This is a new place in the Paddington Square development. There are various places now to find somewhere to eat. Back in December I had a lovely meal from Wahaca. Market Halls at Paddington is one of four halls across London, but this was my first visit to any of them. They consist of a range of street food stalls with common tables. A great place to go and eat if no one know what they want, or people want different things. 

Meet Market Halls no.4. seconds from Paddington Station is our newest location, where you’ll find the best of London’s food scene, an outdoor terrace, live music and your favourite drinks. good times flow here.

Lots of choice including bao buns, tacos, curry, and burgers. I went to From The Ashes Parrilla, which is an Argentinian grill place.

I went with the grilled picanha steak, chilli-pickles, chimichurri and skin on fries. You can opt for a seasonal green salad instead of the fries.

You are given a table buzzer and I took a seat. The food was prepared to order, but it wasn’t long before the buzzer went and I headed back to Ashes Parrilla to pick up my tray of steak and chips.

Picanha Steak + Fries on a metal tray

The steak had been chargrilled and then slices. Alongside were the seasoned skin on fries with chilli-pickles and a pot of chimichurri.

The steak was cooked well, and was very tasty. The accompanying  chilli-pickles and chimichurri did enhance the steak. I thought the chilli-pickles might be too spicy for me, but the pickling had quite significantly reduced the heat of the chillies. The fries were nice and crispy, but they were a little over-seasoned for me. I think I would have preferred plainer fries in this instance.

Overall I really enjoyed the food and it was nice to have something which wasn’t a packaged sandwich from a coffee shop or a supermarket for lunch.

I think the hardest thing about Market Halls, is choosing what to have, I did spend probably too long thinking about what to have, as I was tempted by the bao buns, and I did like the idea of tacos. So, I will be visiting again in the future.

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Sizzling(ish) Chicken

I was staying in London close to Euston Station, my hotel was the Travelodge. Went out with the intention of having something to eat, I wasn’t that hungry, so did think about getting some tacos from Tortilla, however Tortilla was really only takeaway. I did then think about Prezzo, but in the end as it was now getting late, I went back to the hotel and had chicken and chips.

The menu called it sizzling chicken. Well I think what I got wasn’t sizzling chicken, it was pretty obvious that the chicken was not cooked on the chargrill (the kitchen probably didn’t have a chargrill). The chicken was then dressed with a spicy sauce. Accompanying the chicken was some chips, salad, coleslaw and corn on the cob. 

It wasn’t awful, but it certainly wasn’t inspiring and it wouldn’t be a dish I would order again. I know now I should have been more organised and got out earlier to get something to eat, this was London, it’s not as though there isn’t a wide variety of places to go out and eat!

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Roasted Sirloin of Beef

I was staying over at the Drayton Court Hotel in West Ealing. Having arrived Sunday evening, I went to the bar to get something to eat. Sunday at the Drayton Court Hotel in West Ealing means that it is Sunday roast day.

The roast dinners at the Drayton Court Hotel are excellent and are a real treat. I have had a few over the years and enjoyed them all. So, it wouldn’t be a surprise that I ordered the Roast Sirloin of Beef. It was a fantastic looking plate of food.

Roasted Sirloin of Beef

There was a bed of squash mash, cabbage, roasted carrots, roast potatoes, slices of tender sirloin of beef, all topped with a Yorkshire pudding. On the side was a portion of cauliflower cheese, and a jug of gravy.

The beef was nice and pink, tender and soft, and very tasty. The accompanying vegetables were delicious. This was one lovely roast dinner, one that I would like to have again.

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Looks can be deceiving

Now I like trying out new places, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

Kleftiko is relatively new on the food scene, they had taken over the Vietnamese place, Moi An, that used to be on Fetter Lane.

They have an authentic menu with a wide range of choices. I was given a lovely warm welcome and I took some time to peruse the menu. I went with one of their bowls with pulled lamb kleftiko. It came with chips, rice, and Greek salad.

From an appearance perspective the lamb didn’t look that appealing, however it was very tasty. The rest of the bowl was just as delicious.

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Fiorentina Pizza

I was staying at the Drayton Court Hotel and was having dinner in their restaurant.

After a disappointing ravioli I was hoping that the pizza I had ordered would be better. 

I have had the Fiorentina Pizza from Drayton Court before.

This was an excellent generous pizza. A great base, cooked well, and delicious toppings. The dough was crisp with a soft centre, the toppings were full of flavour and there was just the right amount of tomato and cheese. The egg was a little overcooked for my preference, but this didn’t detract from the whole pizza eating experience.

I usually avoid pizza in hotels as they usually use pre-cooked bases, or even prepared pizza. The Drayton Court Hotel however has a proper pizza oven and use proper fresh pizza bases. So, I was quietly looking forward to see what I would get.

The pizza toppings were spinach, mushrooms, olives, and an egg. It looked really nice.

pizza

I did not enjoy the pizza as much as I thought I would. I think they may have used vegan cheese on my pizza, as there was a slightly odd taste to the pizza and the cheese did not feel or taste like cheese.

Overall I wasn’t that impressed with the food that night, which is unusual, as I have had some great food from Drayton Court in the past.

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Crab Ravioli

Did think about going out to the fish restaurant in Ealing but decided in the end to go down to the  Drayton Court Hotel restaurant. I had some crab ravioli and a pizza.

I really liked the sound of the Crab Ravioli on the specials menu, it said it would come with some seafood foam…

Crab Ravioli

The dish was not quite what I expected. The ravioli was nice, but the tomato based sauce was overpowering. I did enjoy the addition of the samphire though. Overall not a dish that I would order again, a lost opportunity there.

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Tempura Prawns in a Lobster Sauce

One of the hotels I stay at in London is the Drayton Court Hotel in West Ealing. I was there in January staying just the one night. The last time I had been there was in May 2024. Since I was last there, they had done a load of refurbishment. There was a new larger reception area, and the rooms had been refreshed.

The food menu though was very similar. For my main I went with a pizza with buffalo mozzarella, tomato and basil which I have reviewed here. For a small plate alongside I went with the tempura prawns in a lobster sauce. Now this sounded like a real treat.

Tempura Prawns in a Lobster Sauce

Alas it wasn’t.

The prawns were terrible and the so-called lobster sauce was horrible. The prawns did have a crispy batter, but it was quite greasy. The sauce did not have any flavour of lobster and tasted like tomato puree.

I did not enjoy the dish and did not finish it. 

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Buffalo Mozzarella Pizza

Buffalo Mozzarella Pizza

One of the hotels I stay at in London is the Drayton Court Hotel in West Ealing. I was there in January staying just the one night. The last time I had been there was in May 2024. Since I was last there, they had done a load of refurbishment. There was a new larger reception area, and the rooms had been refreshed.

The food menu though was very similar. I went with a pizza with buffalo mozzarella, tomato and basil.

I usually avoid pizza in hotels as they usually use pre-cooked bases, or even prepared pizza. I remember once having a pizza at the Doubletree Hilton and being very unimpressed with that pizza. 

What I like about the Drayton Court Hotel, it has a proper pizza oven and use proper pizza bases.

This was a delicious fresh pizza. The addition of the fresh tomatoes was something I wasn’t expecting. 

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Wagamama in the heart of the city

I do like the food at Wagamama, though I like trying new things, I also like having what I had before. On a recent visit to Wagamama in the City of London,  I went with two dishes I had before. For my starter I went with the crispy otsumami. 

This is six squares of crispy fried rice soaked in a soy + yuzu dressing, topped with pulled shiitake mushroom, smashed avocado + edamame and sriracha mayo, garnished with coriander cress.

I had these before when I went to Wagamama in Basildon. I did think this time they were even better. They are tasty morsels of yum! I like the different textures and the flavours combine to create an extravaganza of different tastes within your mouth.

 For my main I went with the silken tofu gochujang rice bowl. I had this before in Ealing in 2023. This is silken tofu in a spicy gochujang glaze on a bed of sticky white rice, bok choi, pickled cucumber, snow onion slaw, red and spring onion, red chilli, sesame seeds.

I like the contrast between hot and cold ingredients in this bowl. There are a diverse range of complementary flavours within the bowl. Overall a tasty dish.